Venice women 'creeped out' by flasher

In less than two weeks, there have been at least 10 incidents where three different men exposed their genitals to women.

SHELBY WEBB

When Brooke Banach and Chelsea Briggs left the gym Monday after a late-night workout, the 20-year-old college students said they were greeted by a disturbing sight.

As they sat on the hood of a friend's car about 11:45 p.m., a man stared at them and began performing a lewd act.

“I didn't know what to think because I was just so shocked,” Banach said of the incident, which happened near the YouFit Health Club on Jacaranda Boulevard. “We were really, really creeped out and grossed out.”

Similar scenes have been reported with alarming frequency around this city, a place typically so placid it has been compared to Andy Griffith's fictional “Mayberry.”

In less than two weeks, there have been at least 10 incidents in which three different men have reportedly exposed themselves to women in public places.

Venice Police Chief Tom McNulty called the number of incidents highly unusual. Asked how many cases his department usually receives in such a period, he said, “Usually, none.”

Barak Asher, a licensed clinical social worker in Venice, was reluctant to speculate on whether extensive media coverage of the cases had emboldened the latest predator, who is accused of three incidents since last Friday.

“He would have to already be in that state of mind or have already flashed before,” Asher said.

Two suspects linked to the other cases have been arrested.

Asher said the incidents can be traumatic to victims, although none of the episodes have involved physical contact.

“It would be similar if someone came up to a person with a knife and said, Move!' ” Asher said. “Even if the person wasn't stabbed, they would still be traumatized.”

The man who exposed himself to Briggs and Banach Monday night is also suspected of flashing a jogger Monday morning near the North Bridge portion of Legacy Trail. Police believe the same man also exposed himself Friday to a woman near the Historic Train Depot and Legacy Trail.

In all three cases, the man was described as 20 to 30 years of age, with a normal to somewhat athletic build.

Banach and Briggs, who both approved having their names used in this story, said the man was wearing dark shorts, red boxers and no shirt.

Banach and Briggs said they were armed with pepper spray and a stun gun Monday night. They said they were lucky they didn't have to use the weapons.

“If someone is going to be weird and creepy like that, you don't know what they could be capable of,” Briggs said.

Men suspected in the other cases have been caught.

William Waldman 50, of Deltona, was apprehended Saturday, with police accusing him of exposing himself to women at least six times since Aug. 10.

According to the Sarasota County School Board, Waldman worked for a construction company contracted by the board to finish work on Venice High.

Waldman installed lockers at the school on Aug. 10 and 11, but was never directly employed by the district.

Waldman's only prior brush with the law was a charge for driving on a suspended license. He has now been charged with five counts of indecent exposure in public and one count of loitering, and remains in the Sarasota County Jail.

In another case, police arrested 76-year-old Albert Hickerson last Friday for allegedly performing a lewd act on a picnic table in Caspersen Beach Park.

Asher said such incidents can be especially harmful to victims who have been sexually abused in the past.

But creating such trauma is what the perpetrators want.

“Flashers are sexual predators,” Asher said. “They get aroused at the reaction of the people who see them. That's why they do it.”